New breakfast restaurant set to open in Norman

 By: Molly M. Fleming The Journal Record  April 9, 2019 0

Norman-based Hal Smith

Restaurants will introduce
another breakfast eatery to its
hometown next week.

El Huevo Mexi-Diner will open

April 15 at 3522 24th Ave. NW,
near the Norman Regional
Healthplex.

Proprietor Scott Reed said the

concept is the brainchild of about
five people in the company.
El Huevo Mexi-Diner will open April 15 at 3522 24th Ave. NW in Norman. They’ve been working on El
(Photo courtesy Hal Smith Restaurants) Huevo since about December
2017, he said.

“We’ve been fortunate enough to work in the building and do test runs,” Reed said. “That’s been a great training
tool for us. We’re ready to get these doors open.”

El Huevo offers a full bar and Mexican-style breakfast dishes, such as biscuits and chorizo gravy, as well as tacos
with a variety of fillings. Huevos rancheros and several omelette styles round out the options.

“It’s a bright, fun, lively environment, where people can have great, fresh food and enjoy the atmosphere,” Reed
said.

This is Hal Smith’s 16th concept and it’s the company’s second eatery that serves Mexican-style food. Reed said that
while people who worked on it had a background with Mama Roja’s and Hal Smith’s previously owned Ted’s Cafe
Escondido, the new breakfast place isn’t like the other two restaurants.

El Huevo is Hal Smith’s second breakfast eatery. The company opened Neighborhood Jam in 2017 and it now is in
three locations: Norman, Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

Hal Smith isn’t the only company to open multiple locations with a breakfast concept. Provision Concepts has two
Hatch sites, with one in downtown Oklahoma City and the other in northwest Oklahoma City. The Sunnyside Diner
operators will soon open their fourth location in downtown Edmond. Jimmy’s Egg has several locations around the
metro, but will open its first downtown Oklahoma City site this year.

Despite this growth, breakfast and brunch places often become neighborhood favorites, so the area hasn’t reached
a saturation point, said Anna Banda, chef at Francis Tuttle Technology Center’s Rockwell campus.

She said offering brunch is a good way for a restaurant to make up lost revenue. It’s a cheap meal to make, so the
profit margins are high.

“You see a lot of breakfast places that do you unique breakfasts,” she said. “But they’re making more than 200 to
300% on the ingredients they’re making into breakfasts.”

She said a brunch menu also offers a place where chefs and restaurateurs can offer variety, with everything from a

sandwich to more traditional items. At Francis Tuttle she teaches garde manger, which is cold-kitchen-type items,
 such as salads, appetizers, and charcuterie boards. She said she has been thrilled that some brunch spots are
offering breakfast charcuterie boards.

As the number of breakfast concepts emerge, she said thinks that the food and community involvement will set
each place apart. She said she likes going to Sunnyside because it offers the Pinewood Pantry outside its doors.
People can take the food they need from the large, outdoor cabinet.

She said she usually visits the popular brunch places during the week. Since she knows how to cook, she won’t
stand in line.

“There’s not an egg cooked anywhere that’s worth waiting for two hours to eat,” she said.

Tagged with: EL HUEVO MEXI-DINER HAL SMITH HAL SMITH RESTAURANTS NORMAN

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